Bringing you a behind the scene look at Know Theatre and the Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

Children’s Clothing

There is just something great about children’s clothing. It was a time when we really didn’t care what was trendy or what made our waist look smaller. As long as we could climb on the monkey bars and play dodge ball we were fine. That is what made designing the costumes for this show so much fun.

The five children in Sideways Stories From Wayside School provided a great cross section of kids in the classroom. In designing the children’s costumes, I tried to think of the kids you would find a classroom, and how they dress. Then I thought about the kids at Wayside School, and how their clothes would be a little off center and what look would best support the character. For instance there is Dameon, who is a little man with his own way of doing things, so I costumed him as if he wanted to look like his dad, in a sweater vest and dress shirt. However he wore his suspenders on the outside. Giving them elements such as suspenders on the outside of their sweater or a super hero cape helped create the world that the characters lived in

Perhaps the biggest challenge in this production was taking a nice looking young man, and making him a scary old lady. It is so much fun to transform someone with a little body padding, makeup and a wig. But what is truly great for a designer is when an actor brings a costume to life

This production was such a joy to work on. Working with the director, the actors, and the production team to create this sideways world was such a positive experience. A show like this makes people laugh and brings people together, and that is what is great about this job.